Rules

01

The aim

Two, three, or four players share a standard 52-card deck, each for themselves, or four as two teams of two. Computer matches support all these formats; online matches are two players. Take turns playing one card from your hand to capture, build, or trail. Captured cards and sweeps earn points at the end of each round.

Scores carry over between rounds. The target is 21 points in a Standard match or 11 points in a Quick match.

02

Every face has a value.

Aces have a little range.

When you play an ace, choose one capturing value for that move: 1 or 14. As 14, it can take a 5 and a 9, a king and an ace, or another ace on its own.

A loose ace on the table counts as 1 in a sum. It can count as 14 on its own when an ace captures as 14. A 9, for example, can take an 8 and an ace.

Two aces may form a stack of aces, to be taken by a third ace, or add up to a build of 2. A stack of aces can be captured as 1 or 14, just like a loose ace. Aces added together into a build count only as that build's sum.

03

Four cards to start.

At the start of a round, each player receives four cards and four go face up on the table. Cards are dealt in twos: each player from the dealer’s left, then the table, then the dealer, then the same again.

The player to the dealer’s left plays first, and play passes to the left. The dealer plays the last card of each deal. When every hand is empty, each player gets four more cards, dealt in twos from the dealer’s left. The table is not refilled.

The whole deck is used: six deals with two players, four with three, and three with four. The dealer changes each round. Against the computer, the first dealer is chosen at random. Online, the player who starts the match plays first.

04

Match it. Or make the sum.

Play a card to take table cards that match its value or add up to it. You can capture several groups at once, provided each table card is used only once. The played card goes into your captured pile with them.

• A 9 can take another 9, a 4 and a 5, and a 2, 3, and 4, all in one move.
• A king can take a 6 and a 7, or a queen and an ace.
• A build must be captured whole, using a card of its value. It cannot be added to other cards as part of a sum.

You don't have to capture just because you can. You may build or trail instead, subject to the duties of owning a build.

05

A plan, left on the table.

Play a card onto table cards to make a pile you can capture later. You must still hold another card of the build's value after you play. To build 14, you must keep an ace.

Your played card and the selected table cards must form groups that each equal the build value. A build can contain one group, such as 4 + 5, or several, such as 4 + 5 and 2 + 7 in a build of 9. Existing builds of the same value count as complete groups.

Builds, stacks, and claims

The app calls cards added together a build, and equal groups a stack. A pair of 5s can be stacked as 5s or added into a build of 10, depending on the card you keep to capture them.

Either player can add to a build by playing a card, alone or with loose table cards, that makes its value again. The player who added last owns it. Adding to your opponent's build claims it for you. When you build a value you already own, the piles join, so you keep one pile per value.

Owning a build is a promise.

• You cannot trail while you own a build.
• You must keep a card that can capture every build you own.
• You cannot play your last card of a build's value unless that move also captures the build.

No build survives the end of a deal, because every hand must be played out.

06 / Optional rule

Raise the stakes. And the build.

Raising is on for new matches unless you switch it off during setup. That choice lasts for the whole match.

Play one card onto your opponent's single build to increase its value by your card's value. The build becomes yours, and you must keep a card of its new value. An ace adds 1, and a build cannot be worth more than 14.

• Only a single group can be raised. A build made of several groups keeps its value.
• You cannot raise your own build or your partner’s.
• A raise uses only your played card and that one opponent's build.
• If you already own a build of the new value, the raised build joins it.
• A single build can be raised again, provided its new owner keeps a card that can capture it. The value cannot exceed 14. Older matches and custom games with the one-raise rule keep that limit.

At a team table

Two sides. Four players.

In Teams, partners sit across from each other and turns alternate between teams. Each player keeps a captured pile; partners’ cards, sweeps, and points count together.

You can capture your partner’s build or stack on it with a card that makes its value again. Stacking makes you the owner, so you must hold its capturing card. You may trail while your partner owns a build, and you cannot raise your partner’s build.

Build for your partner.

Modern enables this option by default in team matches. Add cards to your partner’s build at its existing value, even without a capturing card of your own. The build stays your partner’s, and they keep its capturing card. If you do hold that card, the app also lets you stack on the build and make it yours. Other presets leave this option off.

07

Leave a little something.

Trailing means placing one card face up on the table without capturing or building. It is always allowed unless you own a build, even if a capture is available.

08

A clean table earns a point.

A capture that leaves the table empty is a sweep, worth 1 point. A sweep on the very last play of a round counts, too.

The card that made each sweep stays face up on your captured pile as a marker. Each marked card represents one sweep and is counted only once.

Taking leftover cards at the end of a round is not a sweep.

09

Count the good stuff.

After the final deal is played, the player who made the last capture takes any cards left on the table. If nobody made a capture during the round, nobody receives the leftovers.

There are 11 regular points available in a round, plus sweeps. Ties for most cards or most spades leave those points unawarded. In Teams, partners’ captured cards and sweeps count together.

10

Finish the round. Then celebrate.

Scores accumulate across rounds for each player or team. A round is scored only when it ends. When anyone reaches the target of 21, or 11 in a Quick match, the highest total wins.

If two or more share the highest total at or above the target, everyone plays another round. Reaching the target in the middle of a round does not end the match.

You may resign at any time. In two-player games the opponent wins; in a free-for-all you finish last; in Teams the other team wins. In Game Center matches, a player whose turn times out forfeits.

Your table, your rules

Start with a familiar game.

The rules above are Modern, Cassinito’s default. Choose a preset before starting a match; the match keeps those rules throughout.

Classic

Face cards take only their own rank, one at a time, and aces count as 1. Any single build can be raised repeatedly, including your own; loose cards may join the raise. Sweeps do not score. The highest total at the end of a round reaching 21 wins.

Royal Casino

Face cards count 11, 12, and 13, and aces count 1 or 14. As in Classic, any single build can be raised repeatedly, with loose cards allowed. Sweeps do not score. When a round reaches 21, scoring categories are counted in a fixed order to decide the winner.

Dominican

For two players or two teams of two. Face cards count 11, 12, and 13; aces count 1 or 14. If your played card matches loose cards on the table, capture all of those matches or make a build instead. You cannot trail that card. You may raise another player’s single build repeatedly, using only your played card and that build. Opposing sweeps cancel, and play passes to the right.

At 18 points, the endgame requires most cards to win; at 19, the 10♦; at 20, most spades. The target is 21.

Custom

Customize Rules adjusts the preset you started with. The existing rules and target choices are free, and the app explains combinations that do not work together. Online matchmaking uses presets. Custom rules are available for invited matches, and the other player sees them before their first play.

A familiar game, with a few turns

Coming from classic Cassino?

• Face cards join the arithmetic. Jacks, queens, and kings are worth 11, 12, and 13, and can capture sums and make builds.
• Aces can be 1 or 14. The 2♠ and 10♦ keep their printed values for play and score their usual bonus points.
• Raises can go back and forth. Raise an opponent’s single build again while keeping a card of its new value. You cannot raise your own build or your partner’s, and the value cannot exceed 14.
• Sweeps always score. Clearing the table is worth 1 point, including on the final play.

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